Remember Battlestar Galactica? It's that insanely amazing show on the Sci Fi Channel that disappeared for a hiatus in June and won't return until early 2009. It can be tough to remember such a fantastic series when it goes off the air for months right in the middle of its final season, presumably so the Sci Fi Channel can air original movies like Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep. It's been a long, lonely summer without the Galactica crew to keep us company, but it turns out the lengthy wait just might be worth it. TVGuide.com is reporting that the final 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica will be extended beyond their usual 42-minute running times, providing fans with extra footage and additional scenes.

There's no word yet on how much extra footage will be added to the remaining episodes. We could be getting multiple two-hour installments, or maybe just five or ten minutes added to each new episode. The Sci Fi Channel will likely release the details as we get closer to BSG's return, which is still many months away.

There are some shows, such as The Office, that don't work quite as well when stretched out beyond their usual running time. BSG doesn't seem to have this problem. The DVDs are always packed with interesting deleted scenes, and both season 2's "Pegasus" and season 3's "Unfinished Business" were extended to great effect on DVD. In fact, I'd rank the extended version of "Unfinished Business" as one of the greatest episodes of television I've ever seen. If adding extra story bits into BSG's final episodes will make them all as good as that example, I'm all for it.

According to executive producer David Eick, the reason for extending the final episodes is to help the creators wrap up the story in a satisfying way. It's not a case of the network demanding additional content, like NBC has notoriously done when super-sizing their comedy shows. There's simply so much story to be told that ten 42-minute episodes can't contain it all.

Battlestar Galactica returns to the Sci Fi Channel in January of 2009.